Posts Tagged ‘walkman’

W Series Walkman From Sony Brings Waterproof, Wireless Music To Your Workout

Sony’s W Series Walkman features a waterproof, one-piece design.

CES 2013— Swimmers and wet-weather workout warriors, rejoice! At Sony’s CES booth, the electronics giant displayed their new W Series Walkman Waterprof MP3 Player. The Sony NWZ-w273 features a unique, one-piece design that integrates the battery and MP3 player into the ear-bud units, for a truly wireless listening solution. Completely waterproof, the W Series Walkman can be submerged indefinitely at depths of 2 meters or less.

While the lightweight player will likely find favor with the water-sport crowd, anyone who works out enough to break a sweat will appreciate the design. I’ve had an MP3 player act up after sweat seeped into the headphone jack during a particularly grueling run, and Sony’s waterproof design will alleviate issues like that, not to mention running in the rain.

Sony did not cut corners when designing the waterproof, minimalist headset; the NWZ-W273 holds its own against traditional MP3 players. MP3, WMA, AAC-LC and L-PCM formats are supported; 4GB of integrated memory should hold about 1,000 normal-length songs (128kbps). A full charge will get you up to eight hours of continuous playback, making this a perfect player for marathon runners looking for a hassle-free music setup. One useful feature of the W273 is its quick-charge ability: just a 3 minute charge will get you an hour of playback time.

The earbuds utilize 13.5mm dome drivers to put out impressive sound with respectable bass levels for such a small size. Three sizes of buds are included to insure a proper fit, and the integrated adjustment band keeps everything snug.

We think the W Series Walkman will be a great complement to our selection of fitness equipment, and we’re eagerly anticipating its arrival.

Earlier this morning we had a film crew come and take some footage of our small yet interesting vintage Sony gadget collection. Included in the display are old items like a Sony Walkman circa 1979 or a transistor radio from 1968. Collected over the years by a Sony employee, the collection is a small glimpse of Sony’s technological history and advances. Stop by the Atrium at Abt and see Sony history for yourself.

It was announced yesterday on October 25th that production for the Sony Cassette Walkman units has ceased. Like the indelible sweetness of a John Cusack smile, or a Cindi Lauper pop song, the Sony Walkman helped define the 80’s. Originally developed under the stewardship of Sony founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka, their hope was to design a portable music experience.

When it was first released in July 1979 it cost $200 and allowed users to listen to their favorite music in a personal setting or on the go for the first time. While transistor radios were portable before the arrival, the Walkman reached out to pure music lovers who collected tapes and listened to their favorite songs endlessly.

The Walkman inspired the creation of the ever-popular “mixtape”. Music listeners would record their favorite songs, fashion them in an appealing chronological order and hand them over to a loved one. Letting the tape express what they couldn’t in person, the music spoke for itself and was sometimes better than giving a dozen roses. While creating a “mixtape” has been replaced by “burning a CD”, the romantic gesture is still there.

The Sony Cassette Walkman stayed strong by keeping its head above water the last nine years since the arrival of the iPod in 2001. Tragically, all good things must come to an end. So thank you, Sony Walkman, for being there for so many angsty teens who sat in their rooms and tuned out their parents rants, and all the joggers who took “Culture Club” with them around the park. You may be gone, but you’re not forgotten.